The present invention relates to eyewear and, more particularly, to eyewear that is worn by a user for safety purposes.
Various environments are very dangerous due to the exposure of flying debris and other materials. For example, a tooling shop is constantly exposed to flying metallic debris, which presents a particularly dangerous condition for the eyes of the people present in the environment. Such flying metallic debris, caused from drilling and cutting of metal tooling, can easily fly into the eyes of a person in the environment causing serious injury.
To avoid contact with such debris, safety eyewear is typically employed. Such safety eyewear is available in many different forms. The safety eyewear used usually varies according to the level of protection needed. For example, face shields are often employed to completely protect the face of the user when there is a large volume of debris. Also, goggles may be used to protect the eyes only of the user when the volume and nature of the debris is significant.
In many instances, conventional eyeglass frames and impact-resistance lenses are more than adequate to protect the users eyes from light debris found in most work environments. However, such conventional eyeglass frames and lenses do not typically provide adequate protection on the sides of the frames in the regions of the temples. Thus, these safety glasses, using an eyeglass frame and lenses, are vulnerable to debris from the side. Therefore, there is a need to provide side shield protection for the eyewear.
To address the vulnerability of the aforesaid eyeglass frames and lenses to impact of debris from the side, shields are typically affixed to sides of the frames, such as to the temples of the eyewear, to provide additional protection from debris entering from the side of the eyewear. Such shields are typically referred to as “side shields” and can be affixed to the temples of the eyewear by various methods. Unlike goggles and full face shields, the eyeglass frame configuration of safety glasses can be made to appear similar to normal eyeglasses thus improving the aesthetic appearance of them which would make the user more likely to wear them thus improving overall safety. Most importantly, the side shields must be retained in place at all times to ensure that side protection is available at all times.
In the workplace, there is an increasing issue in that safety eyewear is becoming more fashion oriented and stylish. Part of this trend involves the inclusion temples and endpieces stylized with patterns, colors, stones, engravings, and the like on women's (and occasionally men's) frames. Therefore, there is a desire to avoid covering the ornamental temples and endpieces found in such fashion eyewear. However, despite the desire to provide more fashion oriented safety eyewear in the workplace, there is still a need to fully protect the person eyes, namely by the use of the aforementioned side shields.
Also, outside the workplace, there is often a need for side shields. For example, sunwear, such as sunglasses, can employ side shields to provide additional sun protection of the eyes. Therefore, side shields can be clear, tinted, protective, non-protective or otherwise. Therefore, there is a need for side shields in any type of eyewear.
All known prior art side shields wrap around the outside of the temples and endpieces, covering and distorting any design elements. Therefore, there is a need to keep the outer exposed surfaces of the stylish temples free of obstruction while still providing the needed side shield protection.
In view of the foregoing, the side shields must be easy to attach and secure in place while not blocking the ornamental stylish eyewear temples. Unlike permanent side shields, there is a need for the side shields to be removable so they can be used as normal eyewear outside of the workplace. Therefore, there is a need for side shields that are both attachable to the temples without obstructing or distorting their exposed surfaces while also being easily removable.
There are no known side shields that do not block the exposed ornamental surfaces of the temples of the eyewear. There have been attempts in the prior art to employ various clips and the like to retain them in place. However, all of these known prior art side shields are attached to the outer surface of the temple
For example, various prior art assemblies employ a wedge member to push against the temple into frictional communication with the channel of a side shield into which the temple resides. Or, prior art side shields use a locking post through a loop attached on the temple to make it less likely to detach from the temple during use. However, these side shield assemblies still require that the side shield itself be attached and positioned over the outer exposed surfaces of the eyewear temples. While these prior art side shields adequately prevent debris from hitting the eye from the side and can be removably affixed to the temple, they all require that the side shield cover the outer ornamental surfaces of the temples. As described above, this detracts from the overall style and fashion of the eyewear because the fanciful and ornamental features are covered up.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a side shield assembly that can be easily and quickly installed securely without the need for complicated clips and other structures. There is also a demand for a side shield assembly that does not detach or become loose from normal use. There is a further demand for a side shield assembly that does not obstruct the outer ornamental style features of the eyewear. There is particularly a demand for a side shield eyewear assembly that is aesthetically pleasing in appearance when installed. Still further, there is a demand for a side shield eyewear assembly that is removable.